2020 Atlantic hurricane season (Cooper)
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was a hyperactive, deadly, and destructive season; the first in a series of three very active Atlantic hurricane seasons. The season officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30. These dates historically describe the period of year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. However, as shown by Subtropical Storm Arthur in March, the formation of tropical cyclones is possible at any time of the year. In late June, Tropical Storm Bertha produced heavy rainfall and caused mudslides in the Lesser Antilles and Hispaniola. In late July, Hurricane Edouard left considerable damage in Alabama and western Florida. Just days after Edouard, Hurricane Fay struck Louisiana, causing major flooding in New Orleans. In late August, Hanna became the first major hurricane to make landfall in the state of North Carolina since Fran in 1996, causing extensive damage and loss of life. The strongest and by far the deadliest storm of the season was Hurricane Omar, the first major hurricane to make landfall in Nicaragua since Felix in 2007. With at least 1,847 fatalities attributed to it, Omar was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Jeanne of 2004. Total damage from Omar is estimated at $2.1 billion, making it the costliest hurricane in Nicaraguan history. Most forecasting groups predicted above average activity due to a dissipating El Niño event and lower than normal wind shear across the Atlantic basin. Overall, the forecasts were fairly accurate, although activity exceeded what was expected. Seasonal summary ImageSize = width:800 height:210 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/03/2020 till:30/11/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/03/2020 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Tropical_Depression_=_≤39_mph_(≤62_km/h) id:TS value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Tropical_Storm_=_39–73_mph_(63–117_km/h) id:C1 value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Category_1_=_74–95_mph_(118–153_km/h) id:C2 value:rgb(1,0.91,0.46) legend:Category_2_=_96–110_mph_(154–177_km/h) id:C3 value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Category_3_=_111–129_mph_(178–208_km/h) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.56,0.13) legend:Category_4_=_130–156_mph_(209–251_km/h) id:C5 value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Category_5_=_≥157_mph_(≥252_km/h) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:03/03/2020 till:05/03/2020 color:TS text:"Arthur (TS)" from:25/06/2020 till:29/06/2020 color:TS text:"Bertha (TS)" from:29/06/2020 till:01/07/2020 color:TS text:"Cristobal (TS)" from:06/07/2020 till:07/07/2020 color:TS text:"Dolly (TS)" from:18/07/2020 till:26/07/2020 color:C3 text:"Edouard (C3)" from:27/07/2020 till:01/08/2020 color:C1 text:"Fay (C1)" from:06/08/2020 till:09/08/2020 color:TS text:"Gonzalo (TS)" barset:break from:12/08/2020 till:12/08/2020 color:TD text:"Eight (TD)" from:15/08/2020 till:25/08/2020 color:C3 text:"Hanna (C3)" from:24/08/2020 till:25/08/2020 color:TD barset:break barset:skip barset:skip from:27/08/2020 till:04/09/2020 color:C2 text:"Isaias (C2)" from:30/08/2020 till:04/09/2020 color:TS text:"Josephine (TS)" from:09/09/2020 till:12/09/2020 color:TS text:"Kyle (TS)" from:14/09/2020 till:27/09/2020 color:C4 text:"Laura (C4)" from:18/09/2020 till:21/09/2020 color:C2 text:"Marco (C2)" barset:break from:24/09/2020 till:27/09/2020 color:TD text:"Fifteen (TD)" from:28/09/2020 till:01/10/2020 color:TS text:"Nana (TS)" from:06/10/2020 till:12/10/2020 color:C4 text:"Omar (C4)" from:10/10/2020 till:18/10/2020 color:C2 text:"Paulette (C2)" from:21/10/2020 till:27/10/2020 color:C1 text:"Rene (C1)" from:07/11/2020 till:10/11/2020 color:TS text:"Sally (TS)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/03/2020 till:01/04/2020 text:March from:01/04/2020 till:01/05/2020 text:April from:01/05/2020 till:01/06/2020 text:May from:01/06/2020 till:01/07/2020 text:June from:01/07/2020 till:01/08/2020 text:July from:01/08/2020 till:01/09/2020 text:August from:01/09/2020 till:01/10/2020 text:September from:01/10/2020 till:01/11/2020 text:October from:01/11/2020 till:30/11/2020 text:November TextData = pos:(570,30) text:"(From the" pos:(618,30) text:"Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale)" Systems Subtropical Storm Arthur A strong extratropical cyclone formed south of Bermuda on February 29. As the cyclone moved northeast, it gradually became disconnected from the surrounding environment while shedding its frontal characteristics. Deep convection began to form in a band near the system's center, leading to the formation of a subtropical depression at 06:00 UTC on March 3. At 00:00 UTC, the depression further strengthened into Subtropical Storm Arthur. Surface analysis indicated winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) at 12:00 UTC, which was Arthur's peak intensity. Early the following day, Arthur weakened to a subtropical depression. The weakening storm transitioned to a tropical depression before being absorbed by a cold front at 06:00 UTC on March 5. Tropical Storm Bertha Tropical Storm Cristobal Tropical Storm Dolly Hurricane Edouard Hurricane Fay Tropical Storm Gonzalo Tropical Depression Eight A squall line moved off the coast of Mississippi on August 10 and coalesced into a small area of low pressure. Unexpectedly, the low acquired tropical characteristics and rapidly strengthened into a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC on August 12, despite the presence of strong upper-level winds. Due to these winds, however, the depression failed to strengthen further, and it dissipated at 20:00 UTC after having been a tropical cyclone for only eight hours. The remnant low moved inland over Alabama before completely dissipating on August 13. Hurricane Hanna Hurricane Isaias Tropical Storm Josephine Tropical Storm Kyle Hurricane Laura Hurricane Marco Tropical Depression Fifteen Tropical Storm Nana Hurricane Omar Hurricane Paulette Hurricane Rene Tropical Storm Sally Storm names The following list of names was used for named storms that formed in the North Atlantic in 2020. The names not retired from this list were used again in the 2026 season. This was the same list used in the 2014 season. The names Isaias, Paulette, Rene, and Sally were used for the first time this year. Retirement On April 9, 2021, at the 43rd session of the RA IV hurricane committee, the World Meteorological Organization retired the names Edouard, Hanna, and Omar from its rotating name lists due to the amount of deaths and damage they caused, and they will not be used again for another Atlantic hurricane. They were replaced with Ethan, Hailey, and Oliver for the 2026 season. Season effects This is a table of all the storms that have formed in the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. It includes their duration, names, landfall(s), denoted in parentheses, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a tropical wave, or a low, and all the damage figures are in 2018 USD. Potential tropical cyclones are not included in this table. Category:2020 Atlantic hurricane season (Cooper) Category:Atlantic hurricane seasons (Cooper) Category:Hyperactive seasons Category:Destructive seasons Category:Deadly seasons